Apartments in St. Pete's Edge district sell for $149 million
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 26, 2021

Icon Central, a 15-story apartment tower near St. Petersburg's Edge district, has sold for $149 million, making it the second market-rate multifamily transaction to cross the $400,000 per unit threshold in Tampa Bay history.

Camden Property Trust paid $406,666 per apartment for the 368-unit Icon Central in a deal that closed Tuesday, according to a Pinellas County deed filed Wednesday. The seller was Miami-based Related Group, which developed the property in 2019.

Related sold the retail space in the development to Tricera Capital in July for $11 million. Camden has already renamed the property Camden Central, according to its website.

Sales of apartment buildings act as a bellwether of a region's overall economy. Investors bet on properties in markets with strong job creation trends, as job and population growth are the top demand drivers for apartments. Houston-based Camden's pricing signals that it has a bullish outlook on St. Petersburg's economy and is confident in its ability to raise rents.

Only one market-rate apartment building in Tampa Bay has traded for a higher price per unit than Camden Central: 500 Harbour Island sold for more than $440,212 per apartment in 2019. A midrise building in downtown Tampa sold for $157 million or $398,477 per apartment in mid-August.

Camden also holds the record for what's now the second-highest apartment sale in St. Pete history: The $354,748 per unit sale of Camden Pier District, which Camden acquired in 2018.